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^  E.  H.  AMDERSO:* 


The  Providence  Athenaeum 

1753—1911 

BY 

Joseph  LeRoy  Harrison 


-/ 


THE    PROVIDENCE   ATHEN/EUM 


THE  PROVIDENCE  ATHENAEUM* 

J753— I9n 

The  Providence  Athen^uji,  the  real  foundation  of  which 
dates  back  to  1753,  is  one  of  tlie  few  survivors  of  the  "  public  " 
libraries  of  our  forefathers,  a  distinctive  type  whose  ownership 
is  vested  in  its  proprietors  and  whose  origin  and  fullest 
growth  cover  the  half  centuries  preceding  and  following  the 
Revolutionary  War.  That  it  may  be  seen  in  a  proper  historical 
perspective,  as  a  representative  type  of  the  proprietary  library,  a 
brief  summary  of  the  development  of  library  history  in  the 
United  States  is  essential. 

Early  library  history 

The  public  libraiy  as  we  know  it  to-day  is  the  result  of  a  grad- 
ual and  natural  development,  of  which  the  period  of  the  proprie- 
tary library  forms  one  link  in  a  chain  whose  beginning  is  happily 
anchored  to  the  small  and  solemn  private  libraries  of  early  colo- 
nial days. 

In  1620  the  first  library  in  America  designed  to  be  used  by  a 
constituency  larger  than  the  family  was  bequeathed  by  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Eurgrave  to  a  projected  college  at  Henrico,  Va.  In 
1636  Harvard  University  was  founded  and  two  years  later  its 
library.  The  period  from  the  establishment  of  these  libraries  to 
the  organization  of  the  Philadelphia  Library  Company  covered 
something  more  than  a  century.  This  period  witnessed  also  the 
foundation  of  William  and  Mary  and  Yale  college  libraries,  1693 
and  1701 ;  the  establishment,  1697  to  1730,  by  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Bray,  for  a  brief  period  commissary  of  the  English  church  in 
Maryland,  of  a  large  number  of  parochial   and   lending  libraries, 


♦Reprinted,  by  permission,  from  an  article  in  the  Nexv  England  Magazine  of 
September  and  October,  I'Jll,  by  Joseph  LeRoy  Harrison. 


2 
extending  from  a  nucleus  of   nearly  thirty  parishes  in  Maryland 

•         J.  ^ 

into  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Pennsylvania,  New 
Jersey,  New  York,  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts,  and  the  oc- 
casional organization  of  "  town,"  "  parish  "  or  "  neighborhood  " 
libraries,  whose  origin  and  history  are  for  the  most  part  obscure. 
The  following,  however,  can  be  mentioned  with  certainty  :  Bos- 
ton, Mass.,  King's  Chapel  Library,  as  early  as  169S,  and  Town 
Library,  as  early  as  1653  ;  Concord,  Mass.,  Town  Library,  as 
early  as  1672;  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Parish  Library  of  Christ 
Church,  1695  ;  Annapolis,  Md.,  "  one  and  probably  two  public  li- 
braries," 1696-1697;  New  York,  N.  Y.,  Sharp  collection,  given 
in  1713  to  found  a  "public  library"  and  the  Millington  ]5equest, 
1730,  the  foundation  of  the  "  Corporation  Library  ;  "  and  Louis- 
quisset  district,  P.  I.  (in  what  is  now  Lincoln,  then  within  the 
limits  of  Providence)  "  Circulating  Library,"  some  time  before 
1711. 

The  year  1731  began  a  new  era  in  the  intellectual  life  of  the 
American  people,  an  era  of  co-operation  for  the  procurement  of 
books.  It  was  in  this  year  that  Benjamin  Franklin  proposed  to 
his  fellow  members  of  the  Junto,  a  debating  society  which  sub- 
sequently became  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  that  they 
bring  their  books,  obtained  in  these  early  days  with  difficulty  and 
at  great  cost,  to  the  club  where  they  might  be  enjoyed  by  all.  The 
direct  result  of  this  co-operation  was  the  formation  of  the  Phila- 
delphia Library  (^ompan}^,  the  establishment  of  which  is  so  import- 
ant, not  only  as  the  first  of  its  type  but  historically  in  connection 
with  library  development  in  this  country,  that  Franklin's  account, 
as  given  in  his  Autobiograjihy,  is  of  special  interest: 

"  About  this  time,  our  club  meeting,  not  at  a  tavern,  but  in  a 
little  room  of  Mr.  Grace's,  set  aj>art  for  that  purpose,  a  proposi- 
tion was  made  by  me,  that,  since  our  books  were  often  referred 
to  in  our  disquisitions  upon  the  queries,  it  might  be  convenient 
to  us  to  have  them  all  together  where  we  met,  that  upon  occa- 
sion they  might  be  consulted  ;  and  by  thus  clubbing  our  books  to  a 
common  library,  we  should,  while  we  lik'd  to  keep  them  together, 


have  each  of  us  the  advantage  of  using  the  books  of  all  the  other 
members,  which  would  be  nearly  as  beneficial  as  if  each  owned 
the  whole.  It  was  likM  and  agreed  to,  and  we  till'd  one  end  of 
the  room  with  such  books  as  we  could  best  spare.  The  number 
was  not  so  great  as  we  expected ;  and  tho'  they  had  been  of 
great  use,  yet  some  inconveniences  occurring  for  want  of  due  care 
of  them,  the  collection,  after  about  a  year,  was  separated,  and 
each  took  his  books  home  again. 

"And  now  I  set  on  foot  my  first  project  of  a  public  nature, 
that  for  a  subscription  librar3\  I  drew  up  the  proposals,  got  them 
put  into  form  by  our  great  scrivener,  Brockden,  and,  by  the  heljj 
of  my  friends  in  the  Junto,  procured  fifty  subscribers  of  forty 
shillings  each  to  begin  with,  and  ten  shillings  a  year  for  fifty 
years,  the  term  our  company  was  to  continue.  We  afterwards 
obtain'd  a  charter,  the  company  being  increased  to  one  hundred  : 
this  was  the  mother  of  all  the  North  American  subscription  libra- 
ries, now  so  numerous.  It  is  become  a  great  thing  itself,  and 
continually  increasing.  These  libraries  have  improved  the  gen- 
eral conversation  of  the  Americans,  made  the  common  tradesmen 
and  farmers  as  intelligent  as  most  gentlemen  from  other  coun- 
tries, and  perhaps  have  contributed  in  some  degree  to  the  stand 
so  generally  made  throughout  the  colonies  in  defence  of  their 
privileges." 

Franklin's  veiy  simple  but  hitherto  unthought  of  device,  that 
of  the  joint  stock  library  association,  was  contagious.  Naturally 
adopted  first  in  and  about  Philadelphia  it  soon  spread  throughout 
the  colonies.  Before  the  first  shot  of  the  Revolution  was  fired  at 
Lexington  the  seed  of  library  co-operation  had  taken  firm  root. 
Libraries  had  been  founded  as  follows : — 

Pennsylvania  :  Philadelphia  Library  Company,  1731  ;  Car- 
penters' Library  Company,  1736 ;  Four  Monthly  Meetings  of 
Friends,  1742,  and  German  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  1764,  Phil- 
adelphia; Darby  Library  Company,  1743,  Darby;  LTnion  Library 
Company,  1755,  Hatborough ;  Chester  Library  Comjjany,  1769, 
Chester;  Juliana  Library,  1770,  Lancaster. 


New  Jersey:     Burlington  Library  Company,  1757,  Burlington. 

New  York  :  New  York  Society  Library,  1754,  "  Corporation 
Library,"  1730,  and  Union  Library  Society,  1771,  New  York 
city. 

Massachusetts:  Prince  Library,  1758,  and  New  England 
Librar}^  1758,  Boston;  Social  Library,  1760,  Salem;  Social 
Library,  1763,  Leominster ;  Second  Social  Library,  1758,  Hing- 
ham. 

Connecticut:     Proprietors'  Library,  1737,  Pomfret. 

Maine:  "  Kevolving  Library,"  1751,  parishes  of  Kittery  and 
York  ;  Portland  Library,  1763,  Portland. 

South  Carolina:  Charleston  Librar}^  Company,  1748,  Charles- 
ton;  Winyaw  Indigo  Society,  1755,  Georgetown. 

Rhode  Island:  Redwood  Library,  1747,  Newport;  Provi- 
dence Libj'ary  Company,  1753,  Providence. 

Besides  these  libraries,  which  may  be  characterized  as  general 
in  their  scope,  college  libraries  were  founded  by  Princeton,  then 
the  College  of  New  Jersey,  1746 ;  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
1755  ;  C/olumbia,  then  King's  College,  1757 ;  Brown,  then  Rhode 
Island  College,  1767 ;  Dartmouth,  1770,  and  Rutgers,  1770. 
College  society  libraries  had  their  start  at  Yale  by  the  founding 
of  the  Linonian  and  Isrothers  of  Unity  libraries,  1753;  theolog- 
ical  libraries  by  the  Moravian  Archives,  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  1742, 
and  scientific  libraries  by  the  American  Philosoj^hical  Society, 
Philadelphia,  1743. 

These  libraries,  together  with  those  noted  under  the  second 
period*  of  library  development,  were  the  chief  means  of  general 
literary  culture  open  to  Americans  I^efore  the  Revolutionary 
War.  They  represent  the  first  half  of  the  third  period  of  library 
growth.  The  second  half  extended  from  the  close  of  the  war  to 
1826.  The  entire  period  covered  nearly  a  centur}^,  that  is,  from 
1731  to  1826,  and  has  exerted  a  pronounced,  though  graduallj^lessen- 


*The  first  period  may  be  reg^arded  as  that  of  the  small  private  library  of  the 
home,  extending  to  Thomas  IJurgrave's  bequest  in  KJiO,  and  the  second  period  from 
1620  to  1731,  wlien  Franklin  inaugurated  the  co-operative  idea  of  the  use  of  books. 


ing  influence,  to  the  present  day.  The  growth  of  the  proprietary 
library  was  naturally  checked  by  the  Revolution,  but  from  1785 
to  the  close  of  the  century  and  during  the  first  quarter  of  the 
nineteenth  century  Franklin's  idea  spread  rapidly  throughout  the 
country.  "Society,"  "social,"  "town,"  "association,"  "Athe- 
naeum," "  company,"  and  "  Franklin  society  "  libraries,  as  they 
were  variously  called,  continued  to  be  established  in  the  colonies 
and  in  most  of  the  new  states  as  they  came  into  the  Union,  in- 
cluding Kentucky,  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Alabama. 

During  the  latter  part  of  this  third  period  of  library  develop- 
ment there  began  to  appear  a  new  and  distinct  type  of  librar}-. 
Though  open  to  all,  they  were  designed,  as  their  names  imply, 
for  young  men  of  the  merchants'  and  mechanics'  classes.  Some 
of  the  more  important  of  these  libraries,  with  the  dates  of  found- 
ing;, were  the  Mercantile  Library,  Boston,  1820 ;  Mercantile 
Library,  New  York,  1820;  Mechanic  Apprentices' Library,  Fort- 
land,  Me.,  1820;  Mechanics  Apprentices'  Library,  Boston,  Mass., 
1820;  Mechanics'  Society,  Detroit,  Mich.,  1820;  Apprentices' 
Library,  New  York  cit}^,  1820;  Apprentices'  Library  C'ompany, 
Philadelphia,  Fa.,  1820  ;  Charitable  Mechanics' Association,  Salem, 
Mass.,  1820  ;  Mercantile  Library,  Fhiladelphia,  1821  ;  Associa- 
tion of  Mechanics  and  Manufacturers,  Frovidence,  R.  I.,  1821 ; 
Printers'  Library,  New  York  city,  1823  ;  Middlesex  Mechanics' 
Association,  Lowell,  Mass.,  1825;  Mechanics'  Association,  Forts- 
mouth,  N.  H.,  182b;  Mechanics'  Association,  Bangor,  Me.,  1820; 
Young  Men's  Institute,  New  PTaven,  Conn.,  1826. 

In  that  a  fee  was  charged  for  their  use  they  were  allied  to  the 
proprietary  librar}',  but  their  scope  was  broader  and  their  estab- 
lishment one  step  nearer  the  free  public  librar3^  They  were  not 
exclusive,  as  the  college  library,  or  limited  to  those  who  could 
afford  the  initial  cost  of  a  share,  as  the  proprietary  library,  but 
were  open  to  all  for  a  comparatively  small  annual  fee.  They 
were  designed  not  only  to  furnish  books  but  to  provide  a  general 
higher  education  for  young  men  Avho  desired  to  supplement  their 
school  work. 


6 

In  leaving  tliis  third  ])eno(l  of  library  development,  essentially 
the  period  of  the  proprietary  and  mercantile  libraries,  it  may  be 
said  that  an  interesting  and  important  chapter  of  library  history', 
one  closely  allied  to  the  educational  history  of  the  country  as  well, 
has  never  been  written,  and  offers  a  rich  field  for  some  future 
historian.  P'rom  the  special  viewpoint  of  library  history  the 
period  is  important  for  its  libraries  are  the  foundation  on  which 
the  free  public  library  of  to-day  rests.  They  gave  much  to  their 
successors,  in  earnest  piirpose,  in  spirit,  catholicity  of  view,  even 
in  methods,  but  above  all  they  prepared  the  way  and  demon- 
strated the  need  of  something  more  than  they  could  supply. 

For  the  purpose  of  this  introduction,  essentially  concerned  in 
the  history  of  the  proi)rietary  library  as  a  background  for  the 
subject  of  this  article,  the  subsequent  steps  in  the  development  of 
library  history  in  the  United  States  may  be  briefly  stated. 

The  fourth  period  of  development  was  the  real  beginning  of 
the  public  library  system  in  Americ^a.  It  dates  back  to  the  year 
1826,  when  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton,  of  New  York,  advocated 
in  his  annual  message  to  the  legislature  the  establishment  of  free 
school  libraries.  The  founding  of  these  libraries  by  state  gov- 
ernments recognized  one  of  the  most  important  functions  of  the 
])ublic  library,  that  is,  it  recognized  the  library  as  an  essential 
part  of  the  system  of  public  education  and  as  such  entitled  to  a 
share  in  public  taxation.  That  the  state  should  educate  its  citi- 
zens and  for  that  purpose  maintain  schools  was  a  principle  already 
firmly  grounded,  but  now  for  the  first  time  in  history  it  recog- 
nized the  library  as  both  the  complement  and  supplement  of  the 
school,  a  factor  in  its  educational  system. 

The  fifth  step  was  that  of  libraries  endowed  by  private  gener- 
osity and  thrown  open  to  the  public  on  such  conditions  as  their 
founders  thought  wise.  The  old  Astor  Library  of  New  York, 
and  the  Peabody  Institute,  of  Baltimore,  are  examples.  The 
origin  of  endowed  libraries  dates  back  to  about  the  same  time  as 
that  of  the  free  public  librar}^  and  to  a  great  extent  their  scope 
and  interests  have  been  identical. 


Such  is  the  history  of  the  library  movement  in  the  United 
States  up  to  the  time  when  that  movement,  with  the  founding  of 
the  Boston  Public  Library  in  1854,  broadened  in  its  scope  and 
became  the  free  public  library  movement;  which,  in  its  turn, 
underwent  such  an  awakening  in  1876  as  to  begin  a  new  epoch 
in  the  history  of  libraries,  an  epoch  alreadj-  spoken  of  as  the 
modern  library  movement. 

The  origin  of  The  Providence  Athenajura,  formed  by  the  union 
of  the  Providence  Library  Company  and  the  old  Providence 
Athenicum,  dates  back  to  the  tirst  half  of  the  third  period.  It 
was  one  of  the  direct  results  of  Franklin's  influence  and  Provi- 
dence was  among  the  first  towns  to  follow  Philadelphia  in  the 
establishment  of  a  library,  if,  indeed,  in  the  neighborhood  circu- 
latino-  library  in  the  Louisquisset  district,  it  did  not  antedate  it. 
At  least  only  twelve  towns  throughout  the  colonies,  exclusive  of 
those  in  which  the  Bray  and  college  libraries  had  been  estab- 
lished, anticipated  Providence  in  founding  a  library,  that  is, 
Kittery  and  York  parishes,  in  the  Province  of  Maine  ;  Boston 
and  Concord,  in  Massachusetts;  Pomfret,  in  Connecticut;  New- 
port, in  Rhode  Island;  New  York  city;  and  Philadelphia  and 
Darby,  in  Pennsylvania. 

The  history  of  the  institution  divides  naturally  into  that  of  the 
Providence  Library  Company,  1753  to  1836  ;  the  old  Providence 
Athen^um,  1831  to  1836,  and  The  Providence  Athena?um,  1836 
to  1911,  and  will  be  treated  under  these  three  heads. 

Providence  Library  Company 
1753-1836 

Among  those  most  interested  in  the  formation  of  the  Provi- 
dence Library  Company  was  Stephen  Hopkins,  governor  of 
Rhode  Island  and  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
There  is  a  striking  similarity  between  his  experiences  in  Provi- 
dence and  those  of  Franklin  in  Philadelphia.  Like  Franklin  he 
was  a  lover  and  collector  of  books,  and  at  the  home  of  his  grand- 


8 

father,  Captain  Samuel  Wilkinson,  in  the  Louisquisset  neighbor- 
hood, he  undoubtedly  used  the  circulating  library  of  which  men- 
tion has  been  made.  Removing  to  Providence  from  his  farm  in 
Scituate,  R.  I.,  in  1742,  he  found  he  had  soon  absorbed  the  few 
books  to  which  he  had  access,  and  then,  like  Franklin,  not  find- 
ing book-shops  at  hand,  he  joined  with  his  friends  in  sending  to 
England  for  books. 

The  Providence  Library  Company  was  established  in  1753. 
The  preamble  to  the  subscription  list,  dated  March  twenty-second 
of  that  year,  reads  : 

"  WJiereas  a  Collection  or  Library  of  usefull  and  Edifying 
Books  will  most  certainly  tend  to  the  Benefit  and  Instruction  of 
the  Inhabitants  of  this  Town  and  County  of  Providence,  and  the 
Rising  Generation  thereto  belonging. —  Therefore  TPe  the  Sub- 
scribers considering  the  Advantages  thereof,  and  the  Improve- 
ments which  may  be  thereby  made,  not  only  by  us  but  by  our 
Posterity,  and  for  the  Encouragement  of  the  Same,  have  here- 
unto voluntarily  Subscribed  our  Names,  and  opposite  thereto 
such  Sum  of  Money  as  we  are  willing  to  Contribute  towards  the 
usefull  and  Laudable  Design  aforesaid.  Which  said  Sum  bv  us 
Severally  Subscribed  opposite  to  our  respective  Names,  We  the 
Subscribers  do  hereby  Promise  to  pay  on  Demand,  unto  such 
Person  or  Persons  as  shall  (when  the  Subscription  is  full)  be  b}' 
the  Majority  of  us  the  Subscribers  nominated  and  appointed  to 
receive  the  Same,  and  which,  by  and  with  Our  Approbation,  or 
the  Majority  of  us,  is  to  be  by  such  Receiver  appropriated  to 
and  for  the  Use  aforesaid,  and  to  and  for  no  other  Use  or  Purpose 
whatsoever.  In  Witness  and  Confirmation  of  which  We  have 
hereunto  Severally  set  our  Names  this  Twenty  Second  Day  of 
March  Anno  Domini  One  Thousand  Seven  Hundred  and  Fifty 
Three. 

"iV;  B.  There  is  no  Subscription  for  the  Use  aforesaid  to  be 
taken  under  the  Subscription  of  Twent}'  Five  Pounds  Old 
Tenor,  but  as  much  more  as  any  well  Spirited  Subscriber  shall 
think  proper." 


9 

The  list  contains  eigbty-six  names,  eigbty-one  subscriptions  at 
£25,  three  at  £27,  10s,  one  at  £30  and  one  at  £50. 

Among  the  original  subscribers,  all  prominent  in  the  business 
and  social  life  of  Providence  of  that  day,  may  be  mentioned  : 

Nehemiah  Allen,  Nathan  Angel,  Samuel  Angel,  Job  Arnold, 
Jonathan  Arnold,  Jonathan  Ballou,  Benjamin  Bowen,  Ephraim 
Bowen,  James  Brown,  John  Brown  (son  of  Elisha),  Nicholas 
Brown,  John  Brown,  Moses  Brown,  Obadiah  Brown,  Joseph 
Bucklin,  Sarah  Burrough,  John  Cole,  Gideon  Comstock,  Nicholas 
Cooke,  Benjamin  Gushing,  Stephen  Hopkins,  Esek  Hopkins, 
George  Jackson,  Richard  Jackson,  Jolin  Jenckes,  Samuel  Night- 
ingale, Jonathan  Olney,  Joseph  Olney,  Richard  Olney,  Thomas 
Owen,  Ambrose  Page,  John  Power,  Barzillai  Richmond,  Joseph 
Russell,  Darius  Sessions,  Joseph  Snow,  Joshua  Spooner,  Richard 
Steere,  Thomas  Steere,  Paul  Tew,  Elisha  Tillinghast,  Nicholas 
Tillinghast,  Daniel  Tillinghast,  David  Vanderlight,  Resolved 
Waterman,  Thomas  Waterman,  William  Wheton,  Jeremiah 
Whipple,  Joseph  Whipple,  Stephen  Whipple,  Jacob  Whitman, 
and  David  Wilkinson. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  new  society  was  held  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  Joseph  Angell,  December  15,  1753.  Mr.  Nicholas  Brown 
was  appointed  clerk  and  Messrs.  Nicholas  Brown,  Nicholas  Til- 
linghast and  John  Randal  a  committee  to  collect  subscriptions. 
The  second  meeting  was  held  on  Christmas  day  following,  also 
at  the  home  of  jMr.  Angell.  Messrs.  Stephen  Hopkins,  Samuel 
Nightingale,  Ephraim  Bowen,  Nicholas  Cooke,  David  Vander- 
light and  Paul  Tew  were  appointed  "to  make  out  a  Catalogue 
of  Books,  with  the  Sterling  prices  affixed  in  order  to  send  to 
England  for  the  intended  Library."*  Subscribers  were  allowed  to 
"  put  in  such  Books  as  the  Com.^'^e  j"flge  pi'oper  to  be  received  to 
the  full  value,  or  any  Part  of  their  Subscriptions."  At  a  meeting 
on  January  5,  1754,  the  catalogue  prepared  by  the  committee 
was  accepted.     On  February  first  the  committee  on  subscriptions 


•In  all  quotations  from  the  okl  record  books  the  spelling,  punctuatioii,  cnpital- 
ization  and  phraseology  of  the  original  have  been  retained. 


10 


reported  that  it  had  collected  £1500  old  tenor.  It  was  voted  to 
deliver  this  sum  to  Mr.  Paul  Tew,  who  reported  on  February 
sixth  '•  that  he  had  contracted  with  Mv  Obadiah  Brown  .  .  . 
to  deliver  him  One  Hundred  Pounds  Sterling  woi-th  of  Books 
.     .    .    to  be  delivered  at  Rhode  Island,  within  Six  Months." 

Messrs.  Stephen  Hopkins,  Nicholas  Tillinghast,  Paul  Tew  and 
Nicholas  Brown  were  appointed  on  August  second  a  committee 
to  draw  up  "  such  Rules  and  Orders  as  are  requisite  for  the  well 
regulating  said  Library."  Five  days  later  the  committee  reported, 
a  body  of  rules  containing  seventeen  articles  of  which  the  follow- 
ing extracts  are  of  interest : 

"  That  when  the  Library  is  so  far  furnished  with  Books  as  to 
make  it  fit  to  be  opened  for  use,  some  proper  Person  be  appointed 
Librarian  ...  to  attend  one  Afternoon  in  each  Week  the  open- 
ing of  the  Library  ...  to  Shew  the  Library  to  all  Strangers, 
who  are  Gentlemen,  and  desire  to  see  it. 

"That  no  Proprietor  shall  .  .  .  have  at  one  Time  more  than 
one  Folio,  or  one  (Quarto,  or  one  large  Octavo  Volume,  or  two 
small  Octavo  or  Duodecimo  Volumes  ;  the  Folios  to  be  returned 
,  .  .  within  three  Months  Quartos  within  two,  and  Octavos  and 
duodecimos  within  one  juonth    .    .    . 

''  That  .  .  .  any  Person  of  a  good  Character  may  hereafter  be 
.  .  .  made  a  Proprietor  ...  he  first  paying  to  the  Librarian 
Three  Pounds  Sterling    .    .    . 

"  That  all  Ministers  and  Preachers  for  the  Time  beins:  among; 
the  Different  Denominations  of  Christians  within  the  Town  of 
Providence  shall  be  allowed  the  same  Liberty  ...  as  tho  they 
were  Proprietors   ... 

"  That  whenever  the  General  Assembly  sits  in  the  Town  of 
Providence  the  Librarian  .  .  .  shall  deliver  to  whomsoever  they 
appoint  the  Keys  of  the  Library  ...  so  that  the  Members  may 
have  opportunity  to  read  any  of  the  Books,  if  they  see  Clause, 
trusting  to  their  Honor  to  leave  them  in  their  Places. 

"  That  Mr.  Nicholas  Brown  be  the  first  Librarian,  and  every 
Saturday,  from  two  to  five  of  the  Clock  in  the  Afternoon  be  the 
Times  of  opening  the  Library." 


11 

If  Mr.  Obadiah  Brown  kept  liis  contract,  the  books  probably 
arrived  in  August,  1754.  They  were  placed  by  permission  of  the 
General  Assembly,  granted  the  P^'ebruary  previous,  in  the  council 
chamber  of  the  Town  House  (also  referred  to  as  the  "Court  House" 
and  the  "State  House'')  which  stood  on  IVIeeting  street,  just  above 
the  Friends'  Meeting-house,  on  the  site  of  the  present  Meeting 
street  school  house.  The  old  "llegister  book  "  contains  a  nine- 
teen page  "  Catalogue  of  all  the  Books  belonging  to  the  Library 
in  Providence,  as  well  those  which  were  procured  here  as  those 
which  were  purchased  in  London."  This  catalogue  is  neatly  ar- 
ranged alphabetically  under  the  size  of  the  book,  that  is,  folio, 
octavo,  duodecimo  and  twenty-four  mo,  the  customary  grouping 
of  those  early  days,  and  the  number  of  volumes  and  cost  sterling 
is  given  with  each  title.  Five-hundred-and-eighty-three  books 
are  listed.  Though  every  title  is  of  interest,  as  an  indication  of 
the  sturdy  character  of  the  purchases  of  those  early  libraries,  the 
list  is  too  long  to  give  in  its  entirety.  Those  which  survived  the 
fire  of  1758  and  are  on  the  shelves  of  the  Athenaeum  to-day  may 
be  enumerated  as  ])erhaps  fairly  representative  of  the  entire  col- 
lection, or  at  least  of  the  books  in  circulation.  They  are  as  fol- 
lows:  Henry  Baker,  Microscope  made  easy,  Lond.  1744; 
George  Bickham,  Universal  penman,  Lond.  174o  ;  John  Camp- 
bell, Lives  of  the  admirals,  Lond.  1750  ;  Nicolas  Fouquet,  Coun- 
sels of  wisdom,  O.xford,  1786  ;  James  Fraser,  History  of  Nadir 
Shah,  Lond.  174'2  ;  William  Gibson,  Farrier's  new  guide,  Lond. 
1735;  Pierre  Gilles,  Antiquities  of  Constantinople,  Lond.  1729; 
Hugo  Grotius,  Rights  of  war  and  peace,  Lon(L  1738  ;  Stephen 
Hales,  Statical  essays,  Lond.  1740  ;  Herodotus,  History,  trans- 
lated by  Isaac  Littlebury,  LoniL  1737  ;  Francis  Hutcheson,  In- 
quiry into  the  original  of  our  ideas  of  beauty  and  virtue,  Lond. 
1753  ;  John  Keill,  Introduction  to  natural  philosophy,  Lond. 
1745;  Thomas  Pitts,  New  martyrology,  Lond.  1G33;  Sallust, 
Works,  translated  by  Thomas  Gordon,  Lond.  n.  d.  ;  Sharafad- 
Din-Ali  al  Yezdi,  History  of  Timur-bec,  Lond.  1723;  Peter 
Shaw,  Chemical  lectures,  Lond.  1755;  Sir  John  Spelman,  Life  of 


12 


Alfred  the  Great,  Lond.  1709  ;  John  Tillotson,  Works,  Lond. 
1752. 

A  little  more  than  four  years  after  the  installation  of  the 
library  the  Town  House  was  burned.  There  is  a  gap  in  the 
Register  from  1755  to  1762,  but  under  date  of  the  latter  year  the 
following  account  of  the  tire  is  given  : 

"  The  Books  being  arrived  from  England,  neat  and  proper 
Cases  were  erected  in  the  Council  Chamber,  in  the  Town  House 
in  Providence  for  receiving  them  ;  and  being  placed  there  in 
proper  Order,  the  Library  was  opened,  and  the  Books  received 
and  returned  by  the  Proprietors,  agreeable  to  the  foregoing  Rules, 
and  continued  to  be  used  in  that  manner,  to  great  Satisfaction, 
as  well  as  Profit  and  Advantage,  until  the  twenty  fourth  Day 
of  December  One  Thousand  Seven  Hundred  and  Fifty  eight, 
when  the  Town  House  with  all  the  Books  in  it  was  entirely  con- 
sumed by  Fire.  This  accident  was  occasioned  thus.  The  General 
Assembly  Sitting  in  the  Court  House  the  preceding  Week, 
when  the  Weather  was  very  cold,  Large  Fires  Avere  kept  in  the 
Chambers.  The  Chimneys,  not  being  built  from  the  Ground,  but 
founded  on  the  Chamber  Floor?,  were  Supported  by  Timber,  to 
which  the  Fire  communicated  itself  through  the  Hearths,  and 
there  remained  concealed,  from  Saturday,  when  the  Assembly 
left  the  House,  until  the  Sunday  following,  about  Ten  o'Clock  at 
Night,  when  the  Inside  of  the  House  was  discovered  to  be  wholly 
in  Flames.  The  Fire  being  got  to  so  great  a  H eighth,  it  was  im- 
possible to  save  the  House  or  any  Thing  in  it.  One  Dwelling 
House  also  which  stood  next  to  it,  was  burnt  down.  The 
Friends  Meeting  House,  and  another  House  which  Stood  near  it, 
suffered  great  Damage  by  the  Fire,  but  were  saved  by  the  Dili- 
gence and  great  Activity  of  the  People,  with  the  Help  of  one 
Water  Engine,  the  only  one  then  in  the  Town." 

Immediately  following  the  account  of  the  tire  is  this  record  of 
the  successful  attempt  to  le-establisli  the  lil)rary : 

'■  The  Library  being  thus  lost,  except  about  Seventy  Volumes 
then   abroad  in  the  Hands  of  the   Proprietors,   Application   was 


13 

made  to  the  General  Assembly,  who  at  their  Session  in  the 
month  of  February  one  Thousand  Seven  Hundred  and  Sixty 
granted  a  Lottery,  the  Deduction  from  which,  namely  one 
Thousand  Dollars,  to  be  appropriated  to  the  purchasing  Books 
for  a  New  Library,  of  which  Books  Avhen  purchased,  the  Propri- 
etors of  the  Former  Library  were  to  be  the  Owners  together  with 
all  such  otliers,  who  should  take  Sixty  Tickets  apiece  on  their  own 
Risque  in  this  Lottery'.  The  Lottery  being  compleated,  one 
Thousand  Dollars  were  delivered  to  a  Committee  appointed  by 
the  Proprietors  for  that  Purpose,  who  Sent  it  in  Bills  of  Ex- 
change to  M^  John  Richardson  a  Stationer  in  London  together 
with  a  Catalogue  of  Books  to  be  purchased,  who  procured  and 
Shipped  them  to  Boston,  where  they  arrived  some  Time  in  the 
month  of  January,  1762. 

"  The  Proprietors  having  Advice  that  their  Books,  to  the 
amount  of  Two  Hundred  and  twenty  Pounds  eleven  Shillings 
and  Six  Pence  Sterling  were  arrived  in  Boston,  met  together  in 
Providence  the  thirtieth  Day  of  January  one  Thousand  Seven 
Hundred  and  Sixty  two  and  having  chosen  the  Honorable 
Stephen  Hopkins  Esquire  Governor  of  the  Colony  of  Rhode 
Island  to  be  their  Moderator,  they  voted  and  ordered  a  Tax  to 
be  assessed  on  the  Proprietors  at  Forty  Shillings  old  Tenor  and 
one  Quarter  of  a  Dollar  in  Silver,  that  the  Librarian  collect, 
and  the  Treasurer  receive  this  Tax,  and  that  no  Proprietor  receive 
an}'  Books  until  this  Tax  be  by  him  respectively  paid.  It  was 
further  resolved  that  M'"  Silas  Downer  be  Librarian,  and  M^ 
Nicholas  Tillinghast  Treasurer  of  the  Proprietors  ;  And  that  the 
Honble  Stephen  Hopkins,  Nicholas  Cooke,  Esq';,  M'"  Esek  Hop- 
kins, Mr  John  Cole,  and  M^  Nicholas  Brown  be  a  Standing 
Committee,  who  are  to  provide  a  pro])er  Place  for  the  Books,  jjro- 
cure  them  to  be  transported  from  Boston,  to  receive  of  M\  Josei)h 
Lawrence  what  books  belonging  to  the  late  Library  are  in  his 
Hands,  and  to  do  every  other  Necessary  Thing  more  especially 
to  draw  up  and  present  to  the  Proprietors  at  their  next  meeting 
a  Sett  of  Rules  and  Orders  for  the  Good  Regulation  of  the  Pro- 
prietors, respecting  the  Library. — adjourned  to  Feb.  12.  1762. 


14 


"1762.  On  the  ninth  Day  of  February  A.  D.  1762.  The 
Books  were  brought  into  Town  from  Boston,  and  put  up  in  Order 
in  M^  Esek  Hopkins's  Shop." 

A  catalogue  of  the  books  of  tlie  new  library  appears  in  the 
Register  under  the  general  heading,  "  A  Catalogue  of  all  the 
Books  belonging  to  the  Providence  Library.  Those  marked  with 
an  Asterisk  (*)  are  such  books  as  were  saved  in  the  Hands  of  the 
Proprietors  when  the  late  Library  was  burned."  This  catalogue, 
containing  911  titles,  was  printed  in  1768,  together  with  the 
"  Rules  for  governing  the  proprietors  of  and  institutions  for  ren- 
dering useful  the  books  belonging  to  the  Providence  Library." 

The  books  remained  in  Mr.  Hopkins'  shop  from  1762  until 
1764  (probably  the  fall  of  that  year)  when  the  Register  contains 
this  note  of  their  removal  to  the  new  Court  House  : 

"1764.  This  Day  the  Library  was  removed  from  M";  Esek 
Hopkins's,  where  it  hath  been  kept  ever  Since  it  arrived  from 
England,  into  the  Council  Chamber,  where,  proper,  and  very  neat 
Shelves,  with  large  pannelled  Doors,  were  put  up  at  the  charge 
of  the  Proprietors,  and  so  contrived,  as  not  to  take  from  the 
Beauty  of  the  whole  Finishing  of  the  Chamber,  which  is  elegantly 
done  in  J>election  Work.  For  the  Privilege  of  keeping  the 
Books  in  this  Place,  the  Members  of  the  General  Assemblv  are  to 
have  the  Inspection  of  the  Books,  during  their  Session  here." 

Between  1764  and  the  granting  of  the  charter  in  1798  the 
llegister  contains  little  of  importance  in  the  history  of  the  insti- 
tution. The  "Charter  and  by-laws  of  the  Providence  Library 
company,"  published  in  1818,  contains,  however,  this  interesting 
note : 

"  In  the  year  1770,  Rhode  Island  College  was  established  in 
this  town,*  and  the  college  edifice  erected  the  same  year — on 
this  occasion  tbe  Librarj'  Company  offered  the  use  of  the  books 
to  the  officers  and  students  of  that  institution,  until  a  library 
could  be  procured  sufficient  for  that  respectable  establishment. 
Under  these  circumstances  and  from  the  doors  being  left  open  to 

•Removing  from  Warren,  R.  I.,  where  it  was  first  established. 


15 

accommodate  the  members  of  the  Legislature,  other  persons  in 
the  absence  of  the  Librarian,  had  access  to  the  books;  many  of 
which  were  lost,  and  the  value  and  usefulness  of  the  Library  was 
evidently  declining;  and  the  Proprietors  having  no  corporate 
powers,  had  not  sufficient  authority  to  enforce  a  compliance  with 
their  votes  and  regulations.  It  was  therefore  determined  to 
apply  to  the  General  Assembly  for  an  act  of  incorporation  ;  and 
on  that  being  obtained  to  adopt  such  other  measures  to  preserve 
the  books  and  increase  their  numbers  as  might  render  the  Insti- 
tution more  useful  and  respectable,  and  to  bear  some  proportion 
to  the  progressive  increase  of  the  town." 

As  early  as  March,  1783,  it  was  proposed  that  the  next  meet- 
ing of  the  board  should  consider  "the  Expediency  of  Petitioning 
for  a  Charter."  The  minutes  of  the  April  meeting,  however,  con- 
tain no  mention  of  such  consideration,  nor  do  those  of  any  subse- 
quent meeting  until  that  of  March  7,  1795,  and  the  library  was 
not  incorporated  until  October  '61,  1798.  The  act  contains  seven 
sections,  in  addition  to  the  following  introduction,  which  is  given 
in  full  because  of  the  interesting  light  it  throws  on  the  early  con- 
ditions, struggles  and  purposes  of  the  library : 

"  State  of  Rhode-Island  and  Providence  Plantations  : 

In  General  Assembly, 
October  Session,  A.  D.  1798. 

AN  ACT 

To  incorporate   the  Directors  and  Company  of  the  Providence 

Library. 

Whereas,  Jabez  Bowen,  Moses  IJrown,  William  Pichniond, 
John  Smith,  Nicholas  Brown,  Joseph  Jenckes  and  Paris  Jenckes 
Tillinghast,  the  standing  Committee  of  the  Providence  Library 
Company  and  others,  proj)rietors  of  said  Librar}^  have  presented 
their  j)etition  to  this  General  Assembly,  setting  forth,  that  the 
Library  of  which  the  said  Committee  have  tlie  superintendence, 
was  established  in  the  year  1753,  with  much  exertion,  and  with 


16 


the  design  that  it  should  prove  beneficial  to  future  generations. 
That  at  a  certain  period  of  its  existence,  the  said  Library  con- 
sisted of  upwards  of  eight  hundred  volumes  of  well  selected 
books,  but  that  the  number  at  present  is  much  reduced,  the  sets 
broken,  and  the  volumes  mutilated  and  defaced.  That  this  dimi- 
nution of  the  number  and  quality  of  the  Books  is  to  be  attributed 
principally,  to  a  want  of  power  in  the  proprietors,  to  establish 
laws,  ordinances,  and  regulations,  for  the  government  of  the  said 
Library;  in  which  power  is  included  that  of  determining  the 
manner  and  form  of  obtaining,  transferring  and  conveying  the 
rights  or  shares  in  said  Library,  and  that  of  imposing  taxes  upon 
the  rights  or  shares,  so  that  the  institution  may  possess  the  faculty 
of  supplying  the  decrease  and  diminution,  natural  to  such  estab- 
lishments, and  also  the  means  of  providing  such  compensation  for 
the  Librarian,  as  would  induce  a  person  qualified  for  that  office 
to  give  such  attention  thereto  as  would  accommodate  the  propri- 
etors and  preserve  the  Library  from  injury.  That  one  further 
object  of  the  proprietors  is,  to  increase  the  number  of  Books  in 
the  Library,  and,  if  thought  expedient,  to  add  thereto  such  other 
articles  and  apparatus,  in  addition  to  the  Books,  as  may  facilitate 
the  study  of  the  different  sciences  ;  and  that  at  several  meetings 
holden  in  pursuance  of  publick  notice  in  the  newspapers,  the 
company  have  resolved  to  petition  this  Assembly  for  an  Act  to 
incorporate  them.  Wherefore,  the  j^ersons  before  mentioned 
prayed,  that  they  might  be  incorporated  with  the  powers  before 
mentioned,  and  such  further  powers  as  might  be  necessary  to 
carry  into  effect  the  purposes  of  the  company  as  before  mentioned. 
And,  whereas,  this  assembly  are  sensible  of  the  utility  of  the  said 
institution,  and  are  willing  to  grant  to  the  proprietors  such  powers 
as  will  enable  them  to  effect  the  purposes  thereby  intended." 

The  two  decades  from  1798,  the  year  of  incorporation,  to 
1817-1818,  when  the  charter  was  twice  amended,  were  interest- 
ing years  in  the  work  and  development  of  the  institution.  In 
January  1801  the  governing  board  took  up  the  question  of  in- 
creasing "the   Library  by  the   Admission  of  Subscribers  for  the 


17 

number  of  One  Hundred  and  forty  new  shares."  The  effort  was 
successful,  and  tlie  added  revenue  was  largely  used  for  the  pur- 
chase of  books. 

With  the  renewed  life  of  the  institution  the  board  began  as 
early  as  1802  to  consider  the  advisability  of  securing  new  quar- 
ters, realizing  that  the  Court  Plouse  was  inconvenient  of  location 
and  that  for  too  large  a  part  of  the  time  it  was  inaccessible  be- 
cause closed.  At  a  meeting  held  in  September  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  look  into  and  report  on  the  matter,  but  no  definite 
action  was  taken.  Seven  years  later,  in  1809,  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  confer  with  those  having  charge  of  the  building  of 
a  new  grammar  school  as  to  the  feasibility  of  an  additional  story 
for  the  use  of  the  librar}'.  During  this  same  year  an  offer  of 
land  "  North  of  Angell  Street "  was  made  by  Mr.  Moses  Brown 
and  even  a  vote  to  build  was  passed.  In  J 813  the  "Committee 
for  Procuring  a  room  for  the  Library"  was  instructed  "  to  Confer 
with  Mr.  Thos.  Burgess  on  the  Subject  of  purchasing  the  building 
in  Bowen's  lane  "  occupied  by  him.  And  again,  in  1815,  it  was 
"  Voted  that  Mr.  Tillinghast  be  a  committee  to  draw  up  a  sub- 
scription paper  for  the  raising  a  sum  of  money  to  enable  the 
Company  to  erect  a  building  for  a  Library  Room."  The  matter 
of  location  was  finally  settled  in  1816.  On  August  16  of  thi&. 
year  what  was  known  as  the  "  Literary  and  News  Room,"  which 
Mr.  Howland  speaks  of  as  "  a  very  respectable  literary  establish- 
ment, which  had  been  purchased  by  a  number  of  gentlemen  irt 
this  town  "  was  absorbed  by  the  Providence  Library  Company 
on  the  basis  of  admitting  its  members  as  proprietors  in  the  com- 
pany. At  a  meeting  of  the  company  held  in  Sei)tember  it  was 
voted  to  accept  an  offer  made  by  Mr.  Thomas  Arnold  of  the 
rooms  occupied  by  the  Literary  and  News  Room,  in  Cheapside, 
as  Market  Square  and  the  beginning  of  North  Main  street  were 
then  called,  and  the  books  were  soon  removed  from  the  Court 
House  to  the  literary  quarters. 

At  the  close  of  a  six-page  narrative  covering  the  history  of  the 


18 

Providence  Library  Conij)any,  1753  to  1818,  Mr.  John  Ilowland 
says  : 

"It  then  became  necessary  to  ap))ly  for  further  powers  and  for 
such  alterations  in  the  act  of  incorporation  as  a  change  of  circum- 
stances had  rendered  necessary  and  proper ;  and  at  the  session 
of  the  General  Assembly  held  in  February,  1817,  the  act  altering 
and  amending  the  Charter,  was  passed  ;  since  which  the  By-Laws 
and  Regulations  which  follow  the  same  have  been  passed  and. 
established  by  the  Company. 

"To  encoui-age,  particularly  among  the  youth  of  the  town,  a 
taste  for  reading,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  establish  a  Reading 
Room  in  connexion  with  the  Library.  Accordingly  one  has 
been  o^iened  in  the  Library  Room,  to  which  the  Proprietors  have 
access  every  day,  and  also  such  persons  as  have  become  annual 
subscribers,  pursuant  to  a  resolution  of  the  Corporation.  Many 
have  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  of  becoming  subscrib- 
ers, and  the  beneficial  effects  of  the  establishment  are  already 
apparent.  All  true  friends  to  the  literary  character  of  this  com- 
munity nnist  feel  an  interest  in  its  increased  prosperity;  to  insure 
which,  and  to  render  it  permanent  and  worthy  of  the  town,  only 
requires  the  liberality  and  attention  of  the  wealthy,  and  the  punc- 
tual payment  of  the  assessments  by  the  Proprietors  in  general. 

The  charter  amendment  of  1817  was  general  in  its  scope,  that 
is,  practically  a  new  act  of  incorporation,  while  that  passed  by  the 
General  Assembly  at  the  October  session  of  1818,  entitled  "An 
act  granting  additional  powers  to  the  directors  and  company  of 
the  Providence  Library,"  conferred  upon  the  company  the  right 
to  sell  shares  for  non-payment  of  dues. 

The  last  eighteen  years  of  the  life  of  the  Library  Company  is  of 
no  srreat  interest.  In  1825  a  committee  consisting  of  Mr.  Charles 
F.  Tillinghast  and  Dr.  Joseph  Mauran  was  appointed  to  "devise 
ways  and  means  to  increase  the  funds  of  this  institution,"  and  the 
year  following  it  was  "  Voted  that  a  Committee  of  three  be  ap- 
pointed to  Petition  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Rhode 
Island  at  their  present  Session  for  the  grant  of  a  Lottery  to  raise 


19 


a  sum  not  exceeding  Ten  Thousand  Dollars  to  aid  the  funds  of 
the  Corporation  with  a  view  to  the  Enlargement  of  the  Library." 
At  a  meeting  in  June,  1827,  it  was  reported  that  Moses  Brown 
had  "  signified  his  intention  of  making  a  donation  of  a  lot  of 
ground  and  a  sum  of  money  for  the  use  of  the  Library."  At  a 
meeting  of  stockholders,  in  March,  1881,  there  was  ordered  re- 
corded a  deed,  dated  October  14,  1880,  from  the  heirs  of  Nathan 
Waterman  to  the  Providence  Library  Company,  conveying  the 
Waterman  homestead,  providing  a  library  building  should  be 
erected  on  the  lot  within  five  years.  The  deed  also  contained  this 
curious  condition  :  "  That  the  said  Library  building  shall  be 
erected  without  a  cellar,  it  being  the  object  and  intention  of  the 
aforesaid  Grantors,  to  preserve  undisturbed,  the  remains  of  their 
ancestors,  deposited  on  said  lot."  A  committee  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Horatio  G.  Bowen,  Moses  B.  Ives  and  Charles  F. 
Tillinghast  was  appointed  "  to  procure  drafts  and  estimates  of  a 
building."  It  reported  on  December  22,  1885,  "that  so  much 
time  passed  while  the  Committee  was  making  the  necessary  ar- 
rangements, that  before  they  had  fully  completed  them,  the  time 
w'ithiu  which  the  Company  could  build  upon  the  Waterman  lot 
expired." 

It  is  probable  that  during  the  closing  period  of  its  existence  the 
library  was  twice  moved.  In  May,  1820,  it  was  voted  to  remove 
to  "  the  rooms  now  in  the  occupation  of  the  Eagle  Insurance  Com- 
pany," and  the  Providence  directory  published  in  January,  1824, 
gives  the  address  of  the  Library  Company  as  No.  8  North  Main 
street.  In  April,  1824,  it  was  voted  to  move  into  rooms  over  the 
Washington  Insurance  OfKce,  No.  1  Market  Square. 

From  July,  1882,  to  the  close  of  its  separate  existence  the 
"  Minute  book  "  contains  repeated  entries  of  conferences  between 
the  Company  and  the  newly  started  Athenanim  wuth  a  view  to 
their  union  and  also  of  the  appointment  of  various  committees  to 
meet  those  appointed  by  the  Athenteum  in  an  endeavor  to  arrange 
a  satisfactory  basis  of  union. 

The  record  of  the  meeting  of  the  Company,  December  22,  1885, 
closes  with  the  following  minute  : 


20 


"Resolved,  that  Mess^®  ZacliV  Allen,  William  R.  Staples  and 
Thomas  B.  Fenner,  be  a  Committee  with  power  in  their  discretion, 
to  sell  or  dispose  of  the  property  and  settle  the  debts  of  this  Cor- 
poration and  to  paj^  the  ballance  of  the  proceeds  if  any  shall  re- 
main, after  said  payments,  to  the  Treasurer." 

The  final  entry  in  the  old  Minute  book,  after  recording  the 
proceedings  of  a  special  meeting  held  -May  14,  1836,  reads, 
"  Meeting  adjourned  sine  die." 

The  Register  and  Minute  books  contain  many  interesting  and 
often  quaint  records. 

In  1769  it  was  voted  "That  tlie  School  Masters  for  the  Time 
being  .  .  .  who  shall  keep  School  in  the  Brick  School  House  .  .  . 
shall  have  the  privilege  of  the  Library,"  and  in  1802,  "That  the 
Preceptors  of  the  Public  Schools  have  the  use  of  Bickham  Uni- 
versal Penman  .  .  .  each  to  have  it  one  month  only  in  Rotation." 

The  printers  of  the  local  papers  were  allowed  the  use  of  the 
library  in  return  for  printing  library  notices.  Notices  of  missing 
books  were  published  in  the  papers  but  were  not  always  successful 
in  bringing  in  the  volumes  for  on  at  least  one  occasion,  in  1799, 
the  directors  themselves  waited  on  the  delinquent  proprietors  and 
demanded  the  books.  Mr.  John  Smith,  Esq.,  and  Mr.  Joseph 
Jenckes  were  appointed  "to  Collect  the  books  from  the  Weybossett 
Bridge  Northward,  Capt.  Joseph  Tillinghast  and  Mr.  Nicholas 
Brown  Southward  from  said  Bridge,  William  Richmond  esqT  and 
Paris  J.  Tillinghast  on  the  West  side  of  the  Bridge.  Jabez  Bowen 
esq";  to  apply  at  the  College." 

In  1783,  it  was  "Resolved  That  this  Meeting  be  further  ad- 
journed until  Wednesday  next  at  3  o  Clock  in  the  Afternoon. 
That  the  ToAvn  Crier  at  2  o  Clock  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day 
go  through  the  Town  and  notify  the  said  meeting  and  the  Busi- 
ness to  be  transacted  and  Request  the  attendance  of  all  the  Pro- 
prietors and  that  all  Books  belonging  to  the  Library  then  out  in 
the  hands  of  the  Proprietors  be  brought  in," 

In  1818  the  directors  initiated  a  novel  method  of  securing  a 
quorum   at  their  meetings   b}^  agreeing  to  fine  themselves  fifty 


21 

cents  when  absent  from  any  meeting  and  twenty-five  cents  if 
fifteen  minutes  late.  The  money  so  raised  was  to  be  used  for 
"  binding^  or  rebindinsj "  the  books  of  the  library  and  as  the  rule 
continued  in  force  during  the  existence  of  the  company  a  small 
income  was  assured  for  that  purpose. 

The  Providence  Library  Company  issued  two  catalogues  of 
its  books  :  "  Catalogue  of  all  the  books  belonging  to  the  Provi- 
dence Library  .  .  .  Providence,  N.  E.  Printed  and  sold  by 
Waterman  and  Russell,  at  the  New  Printing  Office,  at  the  Paper- 
Mill,  M,  DCC,  LXVIII"  ;  containing  also  the  "Rules  for  govern- 
ing the  Proprietors,"  and  '•  Charter  and  by-laws  of  the  Provi- 
dence Library  Company  and  a  catalogue  of  the  books  of  the 
library.  Providence,  Printed  by  Miller  and  Hutchens,  April  — 
1818,"  a  book  of  forty-six  pages,  containing  Mr.  John  Howland's 
history  of  the  institution,  the  charter  of  1798,  the  amended  instru- 
ment of  1817,  the  by-laws  and  regulations,  and  a  twenty-eight 
page  catalogue  of  the  books  in  the  library,  then  numbering  1851 
volumes.  Besides  these  sources  of  the  history  of  the  Company 
mention  should  be  made  of  the  "Register  Book,"  175^  to  1835, 
and  the  "Minute  Book,"  1774-1836. 

The  officers  of  the  Providence  Library  Company,  with  the 
dates  of  their  election,  were  as  follows  :  Presidents,  Jabez  Bowen 
1799,  Moses  Brown  1801,  Nicholas  Brown  1807,  John  Rowland 
1812,  Rev.  Henry  Edes  1813,  and  Joseph  L.  Tillinghast  1832, 
Secretaries,  Nicholas  Brown  (clerk)  1753,  Theodore  Foster  1774, 
Jonathan  Gould  1787,  Samuel  Danforth  1795,  Paris  J.  Tilling- 
hast 1799,  George  R.  Burrill  1803,  AValter  R.  Danforth  1807, 
George  J.  Olney  1811,  Walter  R.  Danforth  1815,  William  E. 
Richmond  1816,  Benjamin  Cowell  1817,  John  Taylor  1823, 
Josiah  Lawton  1825,  George  C.  Arnold  1827,  Thomas  C.  Harts- 
horn 1828,  and  Horatio  G.  Bowen  1830.  Treasurers,  Nicholas 
Tillinghast  1762,  Joseph  Jenckes  1799,  John  Howland  1812, 
Obadiah  Brown  1816,  Richard  J.  Arnold  1823,  George  Curtis 
1824,  Charles  F.  Tillinghast  1825,  and  Allen  O.  Peck  1827. 
Librarians,  Nicholas  Brown  1754,  Silas  Downer  1762,  David  S. 


22 


Rowland  1767,  Theodore  Foster  1774,  Peregrine  Foster  1788, 
Jonathan  Gould  1787,  George  R.  Burrill  1787,  Samuel  Danforth 
1793,  Paul  Allen,  Jr.  1795,  Col.  Robert  Taylor  1799,  Walter  R. 
Danforth  1809,  George  J.  Olney  1811,  Dudley  C.  Chappotin 
1815,  Samuel  P.  Bullard  1815,  John  Johnson  1816,  Thomas 
Humphrey  1820,  James  W.  Fosdick  1820,  Wheeler  Martin,  1822, 
Charles  F.  Tillinghast  1823,  Charles  Fitch  1825,  Horace  Draper 
1827,  Moses  D.  Southwick  1828,  Horatio  G.  Bowen  1829. 

Providence  Athenaeum 
•       1831-1836 

On  the  evening  of  P'ebruary  21,  1831,  a  meeting  was  held  at 
No.  51  Arcade  for  the  purpose  of  considering  "  the  expediency 
and  practicability  of  establishing  an  Athenaeum."  William  T. 
Grinnell  was  chosen  chairman  and  Thomas  H.  Webb  secretary. 
From  this  date  until  Jul}^  18,  when  an  organization  was  effected, 
those  interested  were  active  in  promoting  the  society.  On  April 
16  the  committee  appointed  to  secure  subscribers,  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Thomas  H.  Webb,  John  R.  Bartlett,  William  Butler, 
Richard  W.  Greene  and  Benjamin  Hoppin,  Jr.,  reported  that 
they  had  obtained  thirteen  patrons  at  1100  each  and  thirty-three 
stockholders  at  $25  each,  making  in  all  forty-six  subscribers,  with 
funds  amounting  to  $2,125,  and  also  that  Mr.  Cyrus  Butler  had 
subscribed  for  sixteen  shares,  amounting  to  $400,  on  condition 
that  $3,000  be  raised. 

At  the  July  meeting  the  secretary  reported  that  $3,150  had 
been  subscribed.  Tristam  Burges  was  elected  president,  John 
Mackie  and  Frederick  A.  Farley,  vice-presidents ;  Thomas  H. 
Webb,  secretary,  John  R.  Bartlett,  treasurer,  and  Lemuel  H. 
Arnold,  Thomas  Burgess,  Richard  J.  Arnold,  Thomas  C'.  Hoppin, 
William  T.  Grinnell,  Richard  W.  Greene,  Charles  Dyer,  William 
Butler,  John  Taylor  and  Stephen  Tripp,  trustees.  A  constitution 
and  by-laws,  presented  by  a  committee  consisting  of  Messrs. 
Frederick  A.  Farley,  Thomas  H.  Webb  and  Richard  W.  Greene, 


23 


were  adopted.  The  following  were  present :  Messrs.  Frederick 
A.  Farley,  John  R.  Bartlett,  li.  J.  Arnold,  Thomas  C.  lloppin, 
William  T.  Grinnell,  Cyrus  Butler,  Charles  Dyer,  Paris  Dyer, 
Benjamin  Dyer,  William  Butler,  Jonathan  Taylor,  Stephen 
Tripp,  S.  A.  Arnold,  Massa  Basset,  V.  W.  Ferris,  L.  Branch,  C. 
Cheney,  D.  T.  Goodhue,  Benjamin  lloppin,  Jr.,  Jonathan  Wel- 
don,  Robert  Rhodes,  Thomas  Doyle,  John  Paine,  W.  R.  Staples, 
Henry  Anthony,  John  G.  Anthony  and  Leander  Utley. 

An  act  incorporating  the  Athenieum,  framed  by  Messrs.  Thomas 
Burgess  and  Richard  W.  Greene,  passed  the  General  Assembly 
June  22,  1831,  the  names  of  Cyrus  Butler,  John  Mackie,  Charles 
Dyer  and  Richard  VV.  Greene  appearing  in  the  charter  as  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  society.  The  reading  room  was  opened  early 
in  August  at  Nos.  42  and  44  Arcade  and  the  library  for  general 
circulation  in  December,  when,  according  to  the  report  made  at 
the  first  annual  meeting  of  the  corporation,  November  28,  1831, 
there  were  1,159  volumes,  purchased  at  a  total  cost  of  $1,614.77. 

The  Atbenanim  was  organized  in  July,  1831,  and  the  last  meet- 
ing of  which  there  is  any  entry  in  the  Trustees'  records  is  April 
2,  1836,  when  the  only  business  transacted  was  a  vote  instructing 
the  treasurer  to  inform  the  Arcade  corporation  that  the  Athe- 
naeum surrendered  its  rooms.  Within  a  year  of  its  establishment 
the  trustees  of  the  Athenaeum  began  to  consider  a  union  with  the 
Providence  Library  Company,  and  the  subject  of  the  union  was 
repeatedly  discussed  at  both  board  and  annual  meetings  until  its 
consummation. 

From  a  brief  statement  concerning  the  old  Athenieum  appear- 
ing in  the  first  annual  report  of  the  new  institution,  submitted  in 
February,  1837,  the  following  estimate  of  its  work  is  taken: 

"From  that  time  (i.e.  1831)  till  its  union  in  1836,  with  the 
Providence  Library,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  '  an  enlarged  insti- 
tution,' suited  to  the  wants,  and  creditable  to  the  liberality  and  in- 
telligence of  the  community,  the  Providence  Athenanim  steadily 
put  forth  all  its  energies  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  noble  ob- 
ject which  it  was  established  to  promote.     Notwithstanding  many 


24 


circumstances  adverse  to  its  growth,  it  succeeded  in  making,  if 
not  a  large,  a  very  choice  collection  of  books — which  ultimately 
■constituted  by  far  the  most  valuable  portion  of  the  Library  of  the 
new  institution,  at  the  date  of  its  origin." 

The  society  issued  one  catalogue  under  the  title  "  Catalogue  of 
the  Providence  Athenoeum  Library,"  Providence,  1833,  This  was 
an  interesting  subject  grouping  of  the  books  in  the  library,  num- 
■bering  sixty-seven  pages.  Two  record  books  of  the  society  are 
still  preserved  :  "Trustees'  records,"  containing  charter,  consti- 
tution, etc.,  1831  to  1836  and  "Institution  records,"  1831  to  1835. 

The  officers  of  the  Providence  Athenaeum,  1831-1836,  were  as 
follows  :  Presidents,  Tristam  Burges  1831,  and  Frederick  A. 
Farley  1834.  First  Vice-Presidents,  John  Mackie  1831,  Fred- 
erick A.  Farley  1833,  and  Stephen  Tripp  1834.  Second  Vice- 
Presidents,  Frederick  A.  Farley  1831,  William  T.  Grinnell  1833, 
and  Thomas  II.  Webb  1834.  Secretaries,  Thomas  H.  AVebb 
1831,  and  Daniel  C.  Gushing  1833.  Treasurers,  John  R.  Bart- 
lett  1831,  and  Philip  Allen,  Jr.  1834. 

Movement  p^or  the  union  of  the  libraries 

As  early  as  July,  1832,  as  has  already  appeared,  the  subject 
of  uniting  the  libraries  began  to  be  discussed,  and  formal  negoti- 
ations through  various  committees  and  informal  conferences  con- 
tinued until  a  final  agreement  was  reached.  At  six  o'clock  on 
the  evening  of  January  25,  1836,  "  a  public  meeting  of  citizens 
generally  and  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Providence  Library  and 
the  AthenjBum  companies  in  particular,"  was  held  in  Masonic 
Hall,  which  occupied  the  up])er  story  of  the  old  "City  Building," 
Market  Square,  now  leased  by  the  Providence  Board  of  Trade, 
to  take  the  first  steps  necessary  in  forming  the  new  library.  The 
call  for  the  meeting  was  signed  by  fifty-nine  persons,  including 
Moses  Brown,  Nicliolas  Pn-own,  Moses  B.  Ives,  Robert  H.  Ives, 
John  Carter  Brown,  Crawford  Allen,  Truman  Beckwith,  W^illiam 
Butler,  Charles  F.  Tillinghast,  Benjamin  Iloppin,  Cyrus  Butler, 
Thomas  C.  Iloppin,  John  J.  Stimson,  Joseph  Balch,  Jr.,    Philip 


25 

Allen,  Samuel  Y.  Atwell,  Albert  G.  Greene,  Zachariah  Allen, 
and  Sullivan  Dorr.  Zachariah  Allen  presided  at  the  meeting  and 
William  S.  Patten  acted  as  secretary'.  A  draft  of  an  act  of  incor- 
poration, reported  by  Mr.  William  R.  Staples,  was  adopted  and 
a  committee  appointed  to  petition  the  General  Assembly  for  its 
passage.  The  petition  sets  forth,  among  other  facts  relating  to 
the  two  libraries,  that  the  Providence  Library  Company  and  the 
Providence  Athenaeum,  "  after  mature  consideration,  and  ineffect- 
ual attempts  for  a  union,  have  severally  resolved  to  dispose  of 
their  libraries  and  dissolve  their  corporations,  in  case  the  honor- 
able Assembly  would  grant  a  new  charter  for  the  same  objects 
to  those  of  the  corporators  of  each,  and  such  others,  as  would  join 
them  in  appljdng  therefor." 

According  to  the  terms  of  agreement  between  the  two 
library  companies  the  books  of  each  were  to  be  purchased  by 
the  new  institution.  For  those  of  the  Providence  Library  the 
sum  of  $1,000  was  paid,  and  by  the  purchase  of  the  shares  of 
the  Providence  Athena3um  at  the  rate  of  $25  each,  the  books, 
furniture,  etc.,  of  that  library  became  the  property  of  the  new 
Athenfeum.  The  amount  of  this  purchase  was  |3,925.  The 
number  of  volumes  purchased  of  the  Providence  Library  Com- 
pany, exclusive  of  books  unbound,  broken  sets,  etc.,  was  1,680, 
and  the  number  purchased  of  the  Providence  Athenreum  was 
2,400,  a  total  of  4,080.  After  the  terms  of  the  purchase  of  the 
Providence  Athenaeum  had  been  agreed  upon  many  of  its  stock- 
holders consented  to  exchange  their  shares  for  shares  in  the  new 
institution,  thus  adding  about  8700  to  its  funds. 

The  Pkovidence  Athenaeum   1836  to   1911 

The  act  of  incorporation  of  The  Providence  Athemt-um,  as 
reported  to  the  meeting  of  January  25,  was  presented  to  the 
General  Assembly  on  January  29, 1836,  and  referred  to  the  com- 
mittee on  education.  On  February  2  the  act  was  ])as8ed  by  the 
House  of  representatives,  concurred  in  by  the  Senate  and  became 


26 


a  law.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the  corporation,  February  22,  in- 
Mechanics  Hall,  Market  Square,  the  charter  was  accepted  and  a 
constitution  and  by-laws  adopted.  At  an  adjourned  meeting, 
February  29,  the  following  officers  and  directors  were  elected  : 
Zachariah  Allen,  William  Jenkins,  John  Carter  Brown,  Freder- 
ick A.  Farley,  Thomas  H.  Webb,  William  S.  Patten,  Thomas  B. 
Fenner,  Owen  Mason,  William  Butler,  Amasa  Manton,  Stephen 
Tripp,  John  J.  Stimson,  Henjy  Anthony,  William  R.  Staples, 
treasurer  and  Thomas  White,  secretary. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  new  board  was  held  March  2,  at  the 
office  of  Mr.  Zachariah  Allen.  Mr.  Moses  B.  Ives  was  elected 
president  and  Mr.  Zachariah  Allen  vice-president.  Mr.  Ives  and 
Mr.  Allen  declining  to  serve  Mr.  John  Pitman  and  Mr.  William 
Giles  Goddard  were  a  week  later  elected  to  these  offices.  The 
new  library  was  opened  October  10,  1836,  in  rooms  which  had 
formerly  been  occupied  bj^  the  old  Athenaeum,  on  the  west  side 
of  the  second  story  of  the  Arcade,  No.  42  being  used  as  a  read- 
ing room  and  No.  44  for  the  library.  Mr.  Samuel  W.  Peckhani, 
then  a  student  in  the  law  office  of  United  States  District  Attor- 
ney Richard  W.  Greene,  who  had  been  elected  librarian  on  Sep- 
tember 26,  was  in  charge.  The  hours  of  opening,  at  first  fixed 
from  three  to  five  dailv,  were  soon  leno;thened  to  from  three  ta 
six. 

Seven  months  before  the  opening  of  the  library  a  communica- 
tion from  Messrs.  Nicholas  Brown  and  Moses  B.  and  Robert  H. 
Ives,  for  the  estate  of  Thomas  P.  Ives,  deceased,  dated  March  9, 
1836,  was  received  by  the  board  of  directors,  offering  "  to  fur- 
nish a  lot  of  land  opposite  the  Town  House,  at  the  junction  of 
Benefit  and  College  streets,  for  the  site  of  an  edifice  to  be  erected 
of  stone  or  brick  for  the  suitable  accommodation  of  the  Athe- 
nanim,  Historical  and  Franklin  Societies — the  lot  and  building 
to  be  owned  by  the  Athenanim,  and  the  other  Societies  to  be 
accommodated  therein,  upon  terms  to  be  agreed  on."  The  lot 
was  valued  by  them  at  $4,000.  They  also  offered  to  pay  $;6,000 
towards  the  erection  of  such  a  building  and  $4,000  towards  the 


27 

purchase  of  books  for  the  Athenfeura,  making  a  total  of  $14,000, 
upon  condition  that,  before  the  following  June,  the  sum  of  $10,000 
more  be  made  up,  to  be  applied  to  the  building,  and  $4,000  more 
towards  the  purchase  of  books,  by  the  subscriptions  of  responsible 
persons,  and  exclusive  of  moneys  received  for  shares  to  be  sold 
in  the  Athenteum. 

The  offer  was  accepted  b}^  the  board.  The  committee  ap- 
pointed to  collect  the  necessary  subscriptions  met  with  immediate 
success,  the  sum  of  $15,604.50,  an  excess  of  $1,604.50  above  the 
required  amount,  being  subscribed  by  196  individuals  and  firms. 
Most  of  the  subscribers  to  the  fund,  together  with  others,  took 
shares  in  the  new  institution,  fixed  constitutionally  at  fifteen  dol- 
lars, enabling  the  library  to  open  with  a  membership  of  291. 

In  the  meantime  the  subject  of  the  erection  of  the  building  by 
the  Athenjeum  for  its  own  accommodation  and  that  of  the  His- 
torical and  Franklin  societies  had  early  engaged  the  attention  of 
the  board  of  directors.  A  plan  furnished  by  Mr.  William  Strick- 
land, of  Philadelphia,  was  adopted,  the  lot  of  land  was  conveyed 
to  the  Athena?um  as  proposed,  and  Zachariah  Allen,  John  J. 
Stimson  and  William  S.  Patten  were  appointed  by  the  board  a 
building  committee  to  contract  for  and  superintend  the  erection 
of  the  building.  The  ground  was  broken  on  April  4,  1837,  and 
the  building  was  commenced  on  the  ninth  of  May,  the  interval 
being  occupied  in  excavating  and  preparing  the  ground.  Samuel 
B.  Durfee,  of  Providence,  was  the  master  mason  and  Ebenezer 
Carpenter,  of  Providence,  took  and  executed  the  contract  for  the 
carpenters'  and  joiners'  work. 

Under  the  terms  of  an  agreement  the  Providence  Franklin 
Society,  founded  in  1821  as  the  Philosophical  Association,  was 
allotted  the  basement  story  and  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Soci- 
ety, founded  a  year  later,  the  east  room  of  the  principal  story. 
The  Historical  Society  never  occupied  the  room,  however,  and 
the  joint  tenancy  with  the  Franklin  Society  lasted  but  little  more 
than  a  decade,  the  Athenaeum  coming  into  possession  of  the  entire 
building  in  1849. 


28 

The  building  was  completed  in  the  spring  of  1838.  The  first 
meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  in  its  new  home  was  held  June 
22.  The  books  were  removed  from  the  Arcade  in  July,  the 
building  dedicated  July  11  and  opened  for  the  use  of  shareholders 
July  16. 

The  structure,  to  quote  the  description  of  the  building  com- 
mittee given  in  the  third  annual  report  of  the  institution,  "  is  of 
the  Grecian  Doric  order  of  architecture,  constructed  of  granite. 
It  is  forty-eight  feet  in  width,  and  seventy-eight  feet  in  depth. 
The  front  is  fine  hammered  granite  from  Quincy,  Massachusetts, 
from  the  quarry  owned  by  Nathaniel  F.  Potter,  of  Providence, 
who  contracted  for  and  furnished  it  for  the  sum  of  §3,417,  in- 
cluding the  two  fluted  columns,  fourteen  feet  high,  each  shaft  in 
one  piece,  two  feet,  four  and  one-half  inches  in  diameter  at  the 
base  .  .  .  The  side  walls  of  the  building  are  of  granite,  from  John- 
ston, in  this  state,  from  a  quarry  of  Amasa  Sweet.  It  is  rough, 
as  split  from  the  rock,  technically  called  '  rough  ashler,'  firmly 
secured  to  thick  interior  walls  of  stone." 

The  cost  of  the  building  was  $14,966.12,  the  grounds  and  tlieir 
preparation  $3,419.66,  fences,  $511.40,  a  total  of  $18,897.18.  The 
receipts  of  the  institution  at  its  commencement,  from  donations, 
subscriptions,  sales  of  shares  and  contribution  of  the  Franklin 
Society,  were  between  $33,000  and  $34,000.  Of  this  amount 
nearly  $19,000  was  expended  on  the  building  and  grounds,  as 
above,  and  $5,000  invested  in  bank  stock,  leaving  some  $9,000 
for  the  purchase  of  books. 

The  dedication  of  the  building  by  appropriate  religious  and 
literary  exercises  took  place  at  the  Baptist  Meeting  House  on  the 
afternoon  of  July  11.  A  procession,  composed  of  various  public 
bodies,  the  proprietors  of  the  Athenanmi  and  citizens  generally, 
was  formed  at  the  library  building,  and,  marshalled  by  Judge 
Thomas  Burgess  and  Sheriff  Roger  Williams  Potter,  proceeded 
to  the  church,  where  a  discourse  was  delivered  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Wayland,  president  of  Brown  University.  Rev.  Edward  B. 
Hall  officiated  as  chaplain,  and  odes,  written  for  the  occasion  by 


29 

Thomas  P.  Rodman  and  William  J.  Pabodie,  were  sung  by  the 
Providence  Glee  Club. 

As  this  article  is  mainly  concerned  with  the  beginnings  of  the 
-rithenreum  as  embodied  in  the  history  of  the  Providence  Library 
Company,  the  old  Providence  Athenreum  and  the  foundation  of 
the  present  institution,  especially  as  their  history  throws  light  on 
the  early  development  of  librai'ies  in  this  country,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  treat  fully  the  subsequent  history  of  the  Athena?um,  but 
under  a  few  general  headings  to  give  only  the  more  salient  feat- 
ures of  its  later  growth. 

The  external  walls  of  the  building  remain  practically^  as  M'hen 
completed  in  the  spring  of  1838.  The  interior,  however,  has 
undergone  important  alterations.  The  ground  floor,  constructed 
for  the  use  of  the  Franklin  Society,  Avas  originally  divided  into 
four  rooms.  In  1850-1851  the  central  partitions  were  removed, 
making  two  rooms,  the  front  or  west  room  being  fitted  up  as  a 
reading  room,  Avhich  it  still  remains,  and  the  rear  or  east  room, 
now  the  periodical  room,  being  shelved  for  maps  and  bound  files 
of  newspapers.  The  main  library  room  was  connected  with  the 
ground  floor,  the  present  stairway  being  built,  and  a  hot  water 
system  of  heating  introduced.  The  expense  of  these  extensive 
alterations  was  mainly  provided  for  by  a  verbal  bequest  of  Cyrus 
Butler  through  Alexander  Duncan. 

The  library  room,  in  the  principal  story,  was  originally  thirty- 
two  feet  long  by  forty-three  feet  wide,  and  was  separated  by  a 
thick  wall  from  another  room  to  the  east,  connecting  with  the 
former  by  two  doors.  This  "  east  room,"  so-called,  before  it  was 
furnished  with  shelves  for  books  in  1841,  was  often  used  for  the 
free  exhibition  of  works  of  art  belonging  to  the  Athenjeum,  or 
loaned  for  this  purpose.  The  partition  wall  was  removed  in  1868, 
the  two  rooms  being  thrown  into  one.  At  the  same  time 
the  accommodations  for  the  library  w^ere  largely  increased  by  the 
present  arrangement  of  alcoves  and  galleries,  the  total  expense 
of  the  alterations  being  a  little  less  than  18,000.  This  was  almost 
entirely  provided  for  b}'  voluntary  subscriptions  by  the  sharehold- 
ers and  others. 


30 


The  general  appearance  of  tlie  building;  from  the  street  is  the 
same  as  when  completed,  but  the  surroundings  are  very  different. 
At  the  time  the  edifice  was  erected  neither  the  opposite  nor  the 
adjoining  block  of  dwelling  houses  had  been  built.  The  site  of 
the  former,  then  considerably  lower  than  the  level  of  Benefit 
street,  had  once  been  temporarily  occupied  by  a  tent,  or  circular 
building,  with  a  canvas  roof  for  circus  performances.  The  only 
noted  building  in  the  neighborhood  was  the  old  Town  House, 
mentioned  in  Messrs.  Brown  and  Ives'  letter  offering  the  gift  of 
the  land.  This  ancient  relic  continued  to  be  an  op])Osite  neigh- 
bor until  1800,  when  it  was  torn  down.  Going  back  to  the  date 
of  the  erection  of  the  building  the  land  on  the  east  side  of  Benefit 
street,  from  the  corner  of  College  street  to  the  brick  dwelling 
house  on  the  corner  of  George  street,  was  a  high  bank,  sloping 
towards  Benefit  street,  and  probably  still  retained  some  traces  of 
the  original  conformation  of  College  Hill.  The  back  part  of  it 
was  on  a  level  with  the  gangway  on  the  east,  now  partly  held  up 
by  the  retaining  wall  at  the  rear  of  this  building.  On  this  emi- 
nence salutes  were  fired  on  the  Fourth  of  July  from  the  guns 
of  the  United  Train  of  Artillery,  whose  armory  was  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  street. 

For  a  quarter  of  a  century  no  extensive  changes  were  made  in 
the  Athenaeum  building.  In  1894,  however,  there  was  begun  a 
series  of  important  alterations  and  im])rovements  lasting,  with 
little  interruption,  until  1898,  and  increasing  the  shelf  capacity  of 
the  library  some  25,000  volumes.  The  changes  were  inaugurated 
by  the  conversion  of  the  cataloguer's  room  into  a  general  refer- 
ence room  and  librarian's  room,  with  a  capacity  of  2,500  volumes. 
In  1896  the  gallery  space  occupying  the  entire  west  end  of  the 
building  was  made  into  an  art  room  through  the  generosity  of 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  A.  Shepard.  The  room  was  given  and  furnished 
in  memory  of  her  father.  Professor  Goddard,  who  was  closely 
identified  with  the  institution  from  its  start  until  his  death.  The 
brass-tablet  over  the  casement  window  of  the  room  bears  this  in- 
scription:   "  Art  memorial  room.     In  memory  of  William  Giles 


31 

Goddard,  a  founder  of  the  Athenai'um,  and  the  steadfast  friend  of 
sound  learning  and  of  wholesome  literature.  1794-1846."  During 
the  same  years  the  east  room  on  the  ground  floor,  some  twenty- 
two  by  forty-three  feet,  was  entirely  remodeled,  and  shelved  in 
compact  stack  construction  to  accommodate  the  Athenaeum's 
large  and  valuable  collection  of  bound  periodicals.  The  room 
has  a  capacity  of  12,000  volumes  and  is  also  used  as  a  study  room 
for  club  work.  In  1897  the  directors'  room  was  fitted  up  as  a 
reference  room  for  Rhode  Island  history  and  genealogy  and  as  a 
catalogue  room.  During  this  year  an  entrance  also  was  cut  through 
the  east  wall,  making  a  much  appreciated  approach  from  College 
street.  This  same  period  included  a  new  roof  and  skylights,  in- 
troduction of  electricity,  thorough  overhauling  of  the  heating  and 
plumbing  systems,  new  fences,  regrading  of  the  grounds,  planting 
of  shrubbery,  new  walks  and  many  minor  repairs. 

In  1906,  through  the  active  interest  of  one  of  the  shareholders, 
a  purse  was  raised  among  friends  of  the  AthenaMim  for  the  alter- 
ation and  renovation  of  the  reading-room.  Though  the  alcoves 
were  removed  the  retention  of  the  cornice,  pilasters  and  most  of 
the  shelving  gave  the  new  room  all  the  charm  and  character  of 
the  old. 

On  July  10th  of  the  present  j^ear  plans  were  appi-oved  by  the 
board  of  directors  for  an  extensive  addition  to  the  present  build- 
ing on  the  south  and  east.  The  southern  wing  is  approximately 
thirty  by  forty  feet  and  its  j^rincipal  room  is  provided  with  alcoves 
and  gallery  similar  to  the  present  main  library  room.  The 
ground  floor  is  an  extension  of  the  present  periodical  room.  The 
addition  to  the  east  provides,  on  the  ground  floor,  a  boiler  and 
unpacking  room  ;  on  the  main  library  floor,  a  vestibule  entrance, 
children's  room  and  directors'  room,  and  on  the  gallery  floor  a 
room  for  special  collections  and  a  staff  room.  In  adopting  these 
plans  the  board  has  had  in  mind  the  retention,  so  far  as  possible, 
of  the  old  lines  of  the  building  without  and  the  old  atmosphere 
and  distinctive  character  within. 

The  officers  of  the  institution  have  been  as  follows:  Presidents, 


32 


John  Pitman,  1836-1856;  William  S.  Patten,  1856-1870;  Wil- 
liam Gammell,  1870-1882;  Alexander  Farnura,  1882-1883;  Au- 
gustus Woodbury,  1883-1888;  Samuel  L.Caldwell,  1888-1889;; 
Samuel  W.  Peckham,  1889-1895;  Josei)h  C.  Ely,  1895-1897; 
Royal  C.  Taft,  1897;  Alfred  Stone,  1897-1908;  Stephen  H. 
Arnold,  1908 — date.  Vice-Presidents  :  William  G.  Goddard, 
1836-1845;  George  Baker,  1845-1840;  William  S.  Patten, 
1846-1856;  Alexis  Caswell,  1856-1868;  William  Gammell,  1868- 
1870;  Alexander  Farnum,  1870-1882;  Augustus  Woodbury,. 
1882-1883;  Royal  C.  Taft,  1883-1897;  Alfred  Stone,  1897; 
Stephen  H.  Arnold,  1897-1908;  John  C.  Pegram,  1909 ;  Wil- 
liam L.  ITodgman,  1910 — date.  Treasurers:  William  R.  Staples,. 
1836;  Stephen  Tripp,  1836-1345;  Thomas  M.  Burgess,  1845- 
1847;  Stephen  T.  Olney,  1847-1850;  Henry  Anthony,  1850; 
Henry  T.  Beckwith,  1850-1860  ;  Amasa  Paine,  1860-1863;  Henry 
T.  Cornett,  1863-1865;  Stephen  H.  Arnold,  1865-1897;  Charles 
R.  Stark,  1897-1905  ;  Charles  T.  Dorrance,  1905— date.  Secre- 
taries :  Thomas  White,  1836  ;  Samuel  W.  Peckhara,  1836-1845  ; 
Samuel  Austin,  1845-1847;  Isaac  Proud,  1847-1849;  Albert  J. 
Jones,  1849-1854;  John  Gorham,  1854-1856;  Samuel  W^  Peck- 
ham,  1856-1857  ;  James  Tillinghast,  1857-1871 ;  Charles  P.  Rob- 
inson, 1871-1877;  William  M.  Bailey,  Jr.,  1877-1893;  Charles 
T.  Dorrance,  1893  ;  Pardon  S.  Jastram,  1893 — date.  Librarians  : 
Samuel  W.  Peckham,  1836-1838;  Stephen  R.  Weeden,  1838- 
1845;  Thomas  H.  Williams,  1845-1854;  J.  Dunham  Hedge, 
1854-1879;  Daniel  Beck^ath,  1879-1894,  and  Joseph  L.Harri- 
son, 1894 — date. 

Of  those  included  in  this  list  of  officers  two  stand  out  conspic- 
uously because  of  their  long  service  and  deep  interest  in  the 
Athena'um.  Judge  Peckhara  was  actively  identified  with  the 
institution  from  its  incorporation  in  1836  until  his  death,  in  1895. 
He  served  as  the  first  librarian,  1836  to  1838,  as  secretary  from 
1836  to  1845,  seven  terras  as  director  and  as  president  from  1889 
to  1895.  Mr.  Arnold  has  been  in  continuous  service  as  an  officer 
of  the  Athenjeum  for   nearly  half  a  century.     He  was  treasurer 


33 

from  1865  to  1897,    vice-president  from   1897  to   1908  and   has 
held  llie  office  of  president  since  1908. 

The  present  governing  board  is  made  up  as  follows: — Stephen 
II.  Arnold,  president;  William  L.  llodgraau,  vice-president; 
Charles  T.  Dorrance,  treasurer;  Pardon  S.  Jastram,  secretary. 
Directors  :  Arthur  P.  Sumner,  Frederick  II.  Jackson,  N,  Darrell 
Harvey,  Edward  S.  Clark,  Zechariah  Chafee,  Henry  A.  DuVil- 
lard,  Edward  D.  Pearce,  William  C.  Poland,  Albert  E.  Ilani, 
Howard  L.  Clark,  Edward  F.  Ely,  Harold  P.  Waterman,  Otis 
Everett.  Auditing  Committee:  Arthur  Knight,  Eugene  W. 
Mason,  Fletcher  S.  Mason. 

From  the  first  the  Athenanim  has  been  the  recipient  of  many 
and  valuable  gifts  of  money,  of  books  and  of  works  of  art.  In 
1849  Alexander  Duncan,  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  C'yrus 
Butler,  gave  ^0,000  to  be  added  to  the  permanent  endowment 
fund  and  $4,000  to  pay  off  the  old  debt  to  the  Franklin  Society 
and  make  necessary  alterations  in  the  basement.  In  1865 
Thomas  Poynton  Ives  left  a  bequest  of  $10,000,  which  was  sub- 
sequently added  to  the  endowment  fund.  In  1X07  twenty-one 
subscribers  contributed  $3,285  to  the  endowment  fund  and  the 
following  year  eighty-nine  shareholders  gave  $7,72'2  for  altera- 
tions in  the  building.  In  1896  Mrs.  Elizabeth  A.  Shepard  gave 
the  art  room,  shelved  and  fully  furnished  for  use.  At  various 
times  from  1896-1906,  shareholders  contributed  $5,917,  including 
$1,000  given  for  the  special  purpose  of  renovating  the  reading 
room,  towards  the  general  improvements  of  the  building  and 
grounds. 

The  Athenauun  has  received  seven  book  funds  as  follows  : 
The  Allen  Brown  Bequest  of  $500,  bequeathed  in  1861  as  an 
unrestricted  book  fund.  The  Carrington  Hoppin  Fund  of  $3,000, 
bequeathed  in  1879,  and  at  Mr.  IIo})pin's  request  limited  in  its  use 
to  the  purchase  of  books  relating  to  Italy  and  Italian  art.  The 
Thomas  P.  I.  Goddard  Fund  of  $10,000,  given  in  1889  and 
used  in   accordance  with  the  expressed  desire  of  the  donor  for 


34 


the  purchase  of  "  standard  works  of  permanent  value."  The  Albert 
Jones  Fund  of  |1,000,  bequeatlied  in  1887,  and  limited  by  the 
terms  of  the  will  to  the  purchase  of  books  "  illustrating  the  arts 
of  design  as  ap})lied  to  decorative  or  industrial  art."  The  William 
M.  l>ailey,  Jr.  Memorial  P'und  of  1 1, 000,  raised  by  friends  of 
Mr.  Bailey  for  the  purchase  of  books,  engravings  and  photo- 
gra[)hs  relating  to  architecture.  The  Elizabeth  A.  Shepard  Book 
Fund  of  13,000,  given  in  1905  and  1906  by  Mrs.  T.  P.  Shepard 
as  a  general  book  fund.  The  Miller  Fund,  bequeathed  in  1900 
by  Mrs.  Helen  Woods  Miller,  widow  of  Dr.  Horace  G.  Miller, 
the  income  to  be  applied  for  the  purchase  of  books. 

Among  the  more  valuable  works  of  art,  all  of  them  gifts,  may 
be  mentioned  :  Coi)y  of  Stuart's  portrait  of  Washington,  executed 
by  an  Italian  artist  from  the  original  painted  for  the  Marquis  of 
Lansdowne ;  portrait  of  Cyrus  Butler  ;  portrait  of  James  G.  Per- 
cival,  by  Alexander  ;  marble  bust  of  John  Pitman,  l)y  George  O. 
Annable  ;  "  The  Hours,"  by  Edward  G.  Malbone,  perha[)s  the 
most  noted  work  of  this  celebrated  miniature  painter  ;  portrait  of 
Washington  Allston,  by  Chester  Harding  ;  Cavalier  of  the  time  of 
Charles  I.,  by  Van  Dyke;  portrait  of  John  Hampden,  by  Gandy; 
))ortrait  of  Theophila  Palmer,  known  as  "A  girl  reading,"  by  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds;  marble  bust  of  Shakespeare;  portrait  of 
Zachai'y  Taylor,  by  C.  A.  Foster  ;  miniature  of  Nicholas  Power, 
by  Malbone;  Malbone's  portrait  sketch  of  himself  ;  portrait  of 
Mrs.  Sarah  Helen  Whitman,  by  C.  G.  Thompson  ;  Wandering 
Jew,  water  color  by  Horace  Vernet;  portrait  of  Samuel  W. 
Peckham,  from  his  heirs,  1897  ;  bronze  tablet  in  honor  of  the 
Carrington  Hoppin  bequest ;  and  a  portrait  of  Joseph  C.  Ely,  by 
Hugo  Breul. 

Among  other  gifts  may  be  mentioned  a  drinking  fountain  from 
Mrs.  Anna  Richmohd  and  a  bequest  of  $5,000  from  Joseph  J. 
Cooke  for  the  purchase  of  books  from  his  private  library.  It  may 
be  noted  that  a  number  of  the  paintings,  including  the  Van  Dj'ke 
and  Reynolds,  were  given  by  Ethelbert  R.  Billings  and  the  mini- 
ature of  Nicholas  Power  by  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Sarah  Helen 
Whitman. 


35 

"The  Hours"  was  painted  by  Malbone  in  1801  during  a  seven 
months'  sojourn  in  London.  It  was  given  by  the  artist  to  liis 
sister,  Mrs.  Harriet,  Whitehorne,  wife  of  John  G.  Whitehorne,  of 
Newport.  Mrs.  Whiteliorne  died  in  1853  and  her  executor,  to 
carry  out  her  wish  that  the  jjicture  should  remain  in  the  artist's 
native  state,  suggested  that  it  be  purchased  for  the  Athenaeum. 
Acting  on  the  suggestion.  Miss  EHzabeth  B.  Patten,  afterward 
Mrs.  Arthur  F.  Dexter,  then  scarcely  more  than  a  girl,  collected 
from  119  friends  of  the  institution  most  of  the  necessary  money,  ■ 
and  the  miniature  came  into  possession  of  the  Athenaeum  on 
August  26,  1854. 

In  connection  with  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Whitman  it  may  be 
noted  that  one  of  the  Athenauxra's  treasures  is  a  volume  of  Colton's 
American  review  for  1847,  the  December  number  of  which  con- 
tains the  anonymous  poem  Ulalume  with  Edgar  Allan  Toe's 
signature  attached.  The  story  is  that  Mrs.  Whitman,  who  was 
then  engaged  to  Poe,  asked  him  one  day  when  they  were  in 
the  Athenanim,  if  he  had  read  the  new  poem  and  if  he  knew 
its  author.  He  surprised  her  by  acknowledging  himself  the 
author,  and  taking  up  the  library  copy  of  the  magazine  signed 
his  name  at  the  end  of  the  poem. 

It  may  be  stated  broadly  regarding  the  growth  of  the  institu- 
tion that  during  the  seventy- five  years  of  its  history  from  183G  to 
1911  its  endowment  fund  has  increased  from  $5,000  to  152,138.03. 
receipts  from  annual  and  other  rights  from  ri?l,4G5  to  $7,258,  the 
number  of  shares  from  293  to  1,000,  the  number  of  volumes  in 
the  library  from  4,162  to  76,576  volumes  and  the  annual  circula- 
tion from  3,684  to  62,927. 

The  Athen.-i'um  has  issued  four  printed  catalogues,  as^  follows 
Catalogue  of  the  Athenaum  library,  Provi<lence,  1837  ;  First  snp- 
plen)entary  catalogue,  Providence,  1839;  Catalogue  of  the  library 
of  The  Providence  Athena'um,  Providence,  1853,  and  First  sup- 
plementary catalogue,  Providence,  1861.  Its  card  catalogue,  a 
full  dictionary  catalogue,  was  begun  in  1  883.  In  1895  the  Dewey 
decimal  system  of  classilication  was  adopted  and  the  entire  re- 


36 


organization  of  the  cataloguing  and  shelf  arrangement  of  the 
librarj'^  begun.  This  work  has  now  been  practically  completed. 
The  constitution,  by-laws  and  regulations  have  been  changed 
from  time  to  time  as  the  interests  of  the  Athena3um  demanded. 
I'erhaps  the  most  comprehensive  and  far  reaching  revision  of  these 
instruments  was  that  of  1895,  made  under  the  presidenc}^  of  Mr. 
Joseph  C.  Ely,  who  brought  to  the  task  not  only  a  remarkably 
keen  and  sympathetic  appreciation  of  the  traditions  of  the 
Athenanim  but  an  equally  thorough  knowledge  of  its  needs.  Mr. 
Ely  desired  to  present  to  the  corporation  and  board  a  revised  code 
which  would  bring  the  institution  more  in  line  with  the  s])irit  and 
methods  of  modern  library  work,  increase  its  power  of  service  and 
enlarge  its  general  efficiency.  With  these  objects  in  view  he 
framed  what  was  practically,  as  far  as  the  operation  of  the  library 
was  concerned,  a  new  constitution, by-laws  and  regulations.  The 
constitution  and  by-laws  were  adopted  l)y  the  corporation  in 
September,  1895,  and  the  regulations  by  the  board  in  October  of 
the  same  year.  The  salient  feature  of  the  revised  constitution 
was  a  new  article  defining  for  the  first  time  the  character  of  the 
institution,  as  follows  : 

"The  purpose  and  aim  of  The  Providence  Athenaeum  shall  be 
to  furnish  a  home  library,  lai'ger,  better  arranged,  more  useful  and 
more  attractive  tluin  that  within  the  means  of  any  individual 
shareholder;  and  the  scope  of  its  growth,  the  acquisition  of  books 
of  general  literature  and  other  works,  publications  and  periodicals 
in  literature  or  art  which  conduce  to  general  culture,  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  any  publications  of  a  purely  technical  or  professional 
character,  which  latter  shall  only  be  purchased  from  funds  es- 
])e('ial]y  given  for  such  i)urpose." 

Mr.  Ely's  judgment  has  been  found  sound.  During  the  sixteen 
years  which  have  elapsed  since  the  adoption  of  the  i)olicy  he  out- 
lined and  earnestly  advocated  the  endowment  fund  has  increased 
twenty-three  per  cent,  the  income  from  annual  and  other 
rights  seventy-seven  per  cent,  the  number  of  shareholders  thirty- 
six  per  cent,  the  number  of  volumes  in  the  library  thirty-nine  per 
cent  and  the  annual  circulation  forty-six  per  cent. 


37 


But  in  no  way  has  the  srrowtb  and  streno;tb  of  the  Athenauim 
been  more  strikingly  shown  than  during  the  presidency  of  Mr. 
Arnohl,  when,  in  1909,  the  constitutional  limit  of  1,000  shares, 
fixed  the  previous  year,  was  reached,  realizing  a  hope  voiced  in 
nearly  ever^'  annual  report  since  the  incorporation  of  the  institu- 
tion in  1836,  and  again,  at  the  meeting  of  the  corporation  in  1909, 
wlien  the  annual  tax,  established  in  1830  at  five  dollars,  was  raised 
to  seven-dollars-and-a-half,  the  shares  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five 
dollars  and  non-assessable  shares  from  1140  to  $175.  After  three- 
quartei's  of  a  century  of  the  old  order  the  test  was  severe,  but 
that  the  judgment  of  the  board  in  advocating  the  increase  and  of 
the  corporation  in  voting  it  was  sound  and  voiced  the  sentiment 
of  the  constituency  was  demonstrated  by  the  result,  for  not  only 
was  there  no  adverse  criticism,  but,  on  the  contrary,  many  ex- 
pressions of  approval. 

On  February  28,  1911,  the  yVthenanim  celebrated  very  simpl}^ 
and  quietly,  in  its  own  reading-room,  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary 
of  its  incorporation.  Addresses  were  made  by  its  president,  Mr. 
Arnold,  Hon.  William  IJ.  Weeden  and  Dr.  William  IT.  P.  Faunce. 
The  tradition,  the  atmosphere  and  that  intangible  something  which 
may  be  called  the  sj)irit  of  the  old  institution  were  so  charmingly 
and  feelingly  Ijrought  out  by  Dr.  Faunce  that  his  summing  up  of 
what  is  after  all  the  real  essence  of  the  Athenanini  may  fittingly 
be  quoted  in  conclusion  : 

"I  find  it  quite  impossible  to  speak  of  the  Athena'um  in  an 
impersonal  way,  and  so  I  hope  you  will  forgive  me  if  I  fail  to  do 
it.  When  Disraeli  was  asked  how  it  was  that  he  got  along  so 
well  with  Queen  Victoria  while  Gladstone  was  always  in  difticulty, 
he  answered  :  'The  matter  is  very  simple.  I  alwa3's  treat  the 
(Jueen  as  a  woman,  while  Gladstone  always  seems  to  approach  her 
as  a  public  institution.'  Now,  the  Athennaum  is  vastly  more  than 
a  public  institution.  To  those  of  us  who  know  it,  and  have  known 
it  for  a  generation,  it  is  an  infiuence  intellectual,  spiritual,  almost 
personal  .  .  .  Through  the  kiu<lness  of  a  classmate,  I  was  intro- 
duced to  this  building,   so  stern  without,  so   warm   :iiid  friendly 


38 


within.  I  can  truly  say  that  this  is  the  only  libraiy  in  all  the 
world  that  I  ever  loved.  The  long  golden  afternoons  that  I 
spent  in  these  alcoves  are  among  the  happiest  recollections  of  my 
life.  The  repose,  the  seclusion,  the  still  and  quiet  air  of  delightful 
studies,  the  fading  light  as  the  sun  was  sinking  down  over  the 
city,  the  hushed  footsteps,  the  touch  of  vanished  hands  in  every 
alcove  —  all  this  produced  an  impression  well-nigh  religious  .  .  . 

"I  am  sure  there  are  many  here  to-day,  whose  recollections  of 
this  si»ot  are  of  the  same  rich  and  grateful  character  as  my  own. 
'  Yes,' people  may  say,  'that  is  just  the  trouble.  It  is  all  recol- 
lection, all  a  mere  reminiscence  of  what  was,  and  cannot  be  again 
Troja  fuit.  The  subscription  library  has  had  its  day  and  played 
its  part.  Peace  to  its  ashes !  But  something  more  democratic, 
Ijetter  fitted  for  the  present  service  of  the  commonwealth  we  may 
now  expect  and  demand.'  How  familiar  the  sound  !  We  have 
heard  the  same  thing  said  about  the  Christian  Church,  that  it  is 
somewhat  musty  in  the  present  day,  and  other  organizations  must 
succeed  it.  Many  times  in  the  last  few  years  we  have  heard  the 
same  thing  said  of  the  college,  that  the  technical  school  now  has 
the  field,  that  the  utilitarian  studies  are  sweeping  everything  be- 
fore them  ;  that  there  is  no  longer  place  for  history,  philosophy, 
art,  and  literature.  Well,  if  we  want  no  place  we  shall  have  no 
place  ;  in  the  intellectual  world  wanting  is  the  first  step  in  having. 
It  is  the  w'ill  to  believe,  the  will  to  create,  and  the  will  to  pre- 
serve, that  count  for  the  most  in  the  realm  of  the  sj)irit.  Surely 
a  heritage  of  a  century  and  a  half  —  for  that  is  what  the 
Athenauim  really  may  claim  — a  heritage  of  a  century  and  a  half 
is  not  lightly  to  be  flung  away.  Not  everything  old  is  thereby 
proved  to  be  ba<l,  even  in  America.  The  fact  that  there  are  in- 
visible roots  running  down  dee})  into  the  life  of  this  state,  roots 
such  as  no  brand-new  institution  could  possibly  possess,  should 
nuike  us  who  are  here  to-day  prize  very  highly  this  venerable  in- 
stitution, redolent  of  the  life  of  our  state,  and  we  should  jireserve 
and  maintain  it  as  we  preserve  and  maintain  our  ancient  liberties. 
This  is  a  part  of  our  soul-liberly,  the  expression  of  the  earlj' 
genius  of  Rhode  Island  .  .   . 


39 


"The  cultural  side  of  life  has  found  a  strong  bulwark  in  the 
existence  and  growth  of  this  institution;  and  while  the  specialist 
in  certain  fields  of  knowledge  must  always  come  by  preference 
to  the  University  Library,  and  while  our  children  and  young 
people  for  certain  lines  of  reading  may  go  naturally  to  the  great 
Public  Library,  in  whose  beneficent  success  we  rejoice,  yet  there 
will  always  be  a  large  number  of  families  in  Providence  who 
need  just  what  this  institution  has  to  offer. 

"  I  am  convinced  that,  amid  the  great  utilitarian  movements  of 
our  age,  more  and  more  we  need  buildings  and  institutions  that 
stand  for  the  things  of  the  spirit.  We  need  structures  that  stand 
for  memory  and  hope  and  imagination,  that  offer  to  the  reader  a 
little  solitude,  which  shall  be  to  his  spirit  what  space  is  to  the 
tree,  enabling  it  to  strike  in  its  roots  and  put  forth  its  fruit  .  .   . 

"  Let  us  believe  in  our  historic  enterprise  and  so  create  a  future 
for  it.  Let  us  never  falter  for  an  instant,  or  admit  to  any  man 
that  here  is  simply  a  remnant  of  the  p>ast,  fading  slowly  out  in 
the  light  of  the  new  deraocrac3^  It  is  the  new  democracy  that 
most  needs  the  old  heritage  of  reverence  and  faith  and  poise  of 
spirit.  It  is  democracy  that  must  be  saved  from  crudity  and 
obscurantism  and  made  familiar  with  our  intellectual  heritage. 
Changes  must  come  to  all  things  human,  to  home  and  school  and 
church  and  city.  Even  this  granite  front  must  cruml)le.  But 
ideas  and  ideals  survive  and  are  transmitted  from  age  to  age. 
Instead  of  dwindling  they  shine  with  increasing  light  and  power. 
That  we  appreciate  some  of  these  ideals  and  would  convey  them 
to  remote  generations — that  is  the  meaning  of  the  simple  but 
heart- felt  exercises  of  this  winter  afternoon." 


